Cultural Modifications in an Adolescent Earth-Oven Interment from Fiji: Sorting out Mortuary Practice
Open accessAbstract
The incomplete skeletal remains of a young adolescent (10–12 years of age) recovered from the surface of an earth-oven in Qaranicagi Cave, Site Y2–39, Waya Island, Fiji are used to explore mortuary practices in these islands. Mortuary practices in Fiji are documented in explorer and missionary accounts, and a limited number of excavated burials. Additionally, cannibalism is ethnographically and archaeologically known in the region. Cannibalism appears to be temporally and spatially sensitive, and is only one of a variety of perimortem behaviors. Criteria for the determination of cannibalism in human bone assemblages from Fiji are applied to these remains with limited success. The unique interment of the Qaranicagi Cave skeletal remains may represent cannibalism and the first evidence for transportation of human flesh outside of a village context in Fiji, or it may represent a secondary deposit of portions of a cave burial.
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Only one fragment of a long bone shaft from the Qaranicagi midden context has evidence of cut marks.
“Only one fragment of a long bone shaft has evidence of cut marks (Table 2).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The Additional information entry for Qaranicagi Cave, level IV 8 (page not provided), describes three lower-limb bone shaft fragments and says two exhibit faint cut marks. That contradicts the claim that only one shaft fragment has cut marks. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe MNI from the Qaranicagi midden context is four: two individuals from Layer IV, and two adults from Layers II and III.
“Based on the presence of both adult and subadult cranial remains, the MNI from the midden context has been calculated as four: two individuals from Layer IV, and 2 adults from Layers II and III (Pietrusewsky et al., 2007).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The Qaranicagi Cave Excavations section (page unavailable) reports two adults from TU 2 and TU 3, primarily in Layers II and III. For TU 1 in Layer IV, however, it gives an MNI of “at least two or three,” so it does not establish an exact midden-context MNI of four. (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSeveral long bones, ribs, a vertebra fragment and a clavicle from the Qaranicagi earth-oven display clustered cut marks.
“Several long bones, ribs, a vertebra fragment and a clavicle also display clustered cut marks.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The Ribs section reports a series of six to eight cut marks on one rib, and the Femora passage describes groups of incisions on the left femur. Table 5 (page unavailable) lists marks on a cervical vertebra and clavicle only as possible cut marks; it does not establish clustered cut marks on those bones or on multiple ribs. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe 243 human fragments from the Qaranicagi midden context were commingled with remains of fish, birds, reptiles and small mammals.
“The 243 human fragments were commingled with the remains of fish, birds, reptiles and small mammals.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The Qaranicagi Cave Excavations section says that midden from various excavation levels contained fish, birds, reptiles and mammals, including humans. It also describes miscellaneous human bone from the test units, but the passages do not establish a total of 243 human fragments or show that all 243 were commingled with those animal remains. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredSeveral long bones and ribs from the Qaranicagi earth-oven have evidence of burning.
“Several long bones and ribs have evidence of burning.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The Burned bones section identifies five bones with modifications attributable to fire or heat: one rib fragment and four long bones. It says only the rib fragment shows clear burning; nearby ribs show no burning or scorching, and three of the long bones show heat-related cracking rather than discoloration. The claim overstates the evidence by referring to burned ribs in the plural. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
The morphology of cut marks on the Qaranicagi earth-oven remains has been associated with the use of bamboo knives.
“The morphology of these marks has been associated with the use of bamboo knives (Pietrusewsky et al., 2007).”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The Qaranicagi earth-oven skeleton lacks cranial elements, most vertebrae and the pelvis, and the small bones of the hands and feet.
“The skeleton lacks the cranial elements, most of the vertebrae and the pelvis, as well as the small bones of the hands and feet.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The human remains in the Qaranicagi earth-oven are attributed to a single 10-12-year-old adolescent.
“The remains have been attributed to a single 10-12-year-old adolescent.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
The human remains from the Qaranicagi midden context are highly fragmented and several fragments are blackened by heat exposure.
“The human remains from the midden context are highly fragmented and several fragments are blackened by heat exposure.”
From The Archaeology of Cannibalism: a Review of the Taphonomic Traits Associated with Survival and Ritualistic Cannibalism (2025) · cites this paper as Pietrusewsky et al., 2007
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Pietrusewsky, M., Douglas, M. T., Cochrane, E. E., & Reinke, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US)
- University College London (GB)
- Venue
- The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2007-05
- Volume
- 2
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 44-71
- ISSN
- 1556-1828 (ISSN-L)
- 1556-4894
- OpenAlex
- W2145545042
- Cited by
- 20
- References
- 49
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 9.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- discovery.ucl.ac.uk
- Locations
- The Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology (publishedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Texas Christian University
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies
- Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Death, Funerary Practices, and Mourning
- Keywords
- funerary practices, cannibalism, Fiji, cave burials, secondary deposits, cultural modification
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